Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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960. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she has identified towns, villages and regions which may benefit from upgrading such as improvement of street scape, derelict buildings or other issues which may detrimentally affect the appearance of such locations with a view to specifically targeted incentives to address the issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27879/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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964. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number and location of applications received by her Department from the various local authorities for grant aid towards the upgrading of street scrapes; her plans to award same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27883/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 960 and 964 together.

Vibrant towns and villages are at the heart of our rural communities and will play an important role in revitalising rural Ireland. The Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development, which was launched on 23rd January last, contains a number of measures which have the objective of rejuvenating Ireland’s rural towns and villages to make them more attractive places in which to live and work, and to increase their tourism potential.

One of these measures is the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, which I launched last April, with a focus on improving the economic and social development of our rural towns and villages. Funding of €20 million has been made available under the scheme, which will support up to 300 towns and villages over the next 12 months.  The scheme is funded by my Department and delivered through the Local Authorities.

The closing date for receipt of applications from the Local Authorities is 30th June. My officials will commence the assessment of applications immediately after this date, with the objective of the successful applicants being announced before the end of July. Details of the successful applicants will be published on-line.

My Department is also developing a pilot initiative to increase residential occupancy in rural town and village centres. It is hoped that this pilot can be launched later this year. The pilot will examine ways in which properties that are currently not in use in town centres, such as vacant or derelict premises, can be renovated to allow them to be used for residential purpose. The scheme will be targeted at owner-occupiers. Full details will be announced when the scheme is launched.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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961. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which her Department can address the issues of urban or rural decay throughout the country with particular reference to those areas that have to date not benefitted from the economic recovery and which previously were deemed not to have experienced the economic boom; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27880/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government's Action Plan for Rural Development provides a framework for the coordinated delivery of over 270 actions by a range of Government Departments, State agencies and other bodies to support the economic and social development of rural areas, many of which have not felt the benefit of economic recovery. From my own Department’s perspective, initiatives such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the CLÁR programme and capital grants for arts and culture centres have all been launched this year. All of these initiatives contribute to the economic and social progress of rural areas. My Department is also developing a pilot initiative to increase residential occupancy in rural town and village centres. It is hoped that this pilot can be launched later this year.

Bodies such as Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Western Development Commission, the Heritage Council, Waterways Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Services also contribute to economic development in rural areas through enterprise supports or investment in tourism and heritage assets.

A key component of the Action Plan for Rural Development is to support the creation of jobs throughout the regions to ensure that people who live in rural areas have increased opportunities for employment locally. The Department of Enterprise and Innovation is delivering the regional Action Plans for Jobs, and Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland have placed a renewed focus on supporting enterprises at regional level. These initiatives will have a positive impact on job opportunities and economic activity in both rural and urban communities across the regions. Recent figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that more than three-quarters of all employment created in the first Quarter of 2017 was outside of Dublin.

The actions set out in the Action Plan for Rural Development are the start of an on-going process which will be built on continuously to unlock the potential of rural Ireland and improve the lives of people who live and work in rural communities.

An Interim Progress Report on the implementation of the Action Plan is available on www.ruralireland.ieand highlights the progress being right across Government to support rural Ireland.